I had a Super Champ back in the mid 80s and remembered it as being really good. Years later I have a Deluxe Reverb re-issue with a Celestial blue back. A friend recently dropped by with his bone stock Super Champ and wow, is/was my memory wrong….there is absolutely NO comparison. The Deluxe ate the Super Champ up and shit out the remnants. Nostalgia is dangerous!

If u have issues sourcing 6c10's, holla at the guys at vivatubes in massachusetts. They even have a cool blog post on their site about acceptable substitutes that drop right in the socket with no amp tweaking and what you can expect from the different substitutes sonically.

Excellent review that convinced me to buy a Super Champ I'd been watching on Craigslist. I bought one of these new back in the mid 80's but it was stolen along with a new Les Paul. I was able to recover the guitar but the Super Champ was history - long story. Am finding the Super Champ much more recordable/versatile than my other amps: Hot Rod Deluxe, Blues Junior, Peavey Classic 30, Peavey Bandit, Tech 21. I'm seriously thinking of ditching all the others but the Blues Junior (which I love). The Super Champ is so much in such a small package!! I'm really enjoying being reunited with this valve amp, although I paid more than double what I paid in the 80's! Great playing, and excellent, informative videos on your channel. Thank you!

I love the sound of this amp, especially on his blues lessons.

Thank you Adrian! Love to watch you buddy!

These are great sounding amps, very under rated. Lovely sounds

I like your lessons well explained no nonsense approach and always great choices for songs. I also appreciate you don't waste time in say a Hendrix lesson saying heres how to tune. If someone didnt already have that knowledge they ain't gunna be playing Hendrix unless they've been blessed with perfect temperature and incredibly stable pegs

Great review/tones, my friend...….Thank you ! Mine was taken years ago :( One of the finest small combo's ever crafted ! (Yes Mr. Rivera did a fine job creating this little beauty). Thanks again...….wonderful review/story about your amazing little Amp. :)

Your amp sounds great and it really is very versatile! Many moons ago, I used to own a Fender 75 which I believe was also designed by Rivera and pretty much seems like the much bigger brother to this amp. I really liked it but got rid of it when I was moving overseas. It has a 15" speaker and sounds huge. Really loving your channel man, thanks for so many wonderful videos!

Fantastic demo and explanation. Thanks man!

Hello Adrian you are one of the best teachers on youtube especially with song selection. I like all the post punk material, I stay up on Sundays to watch 120minutes to discover new artists/bands. You should do a video of your top post punk albums or songs. I recently heard XTC "Making plans for Nigel" would love to see your lesson on it. Thanks again keep up the great work!

I got the 1982 Champ ll ... bought it in at a small guitar shop 1992 , along with a new SRV Stratocaster.. still got that too👍. Still a killer combo 26 years later..

Tone at 11:50 is amazing. Great video

Cool video. Great playing and Lovely Presenting. Thanks.

Love it Adrian especially the Jazzmaster towards the end of the video. All of the tones were great though. This is a real versatile little powerhouse.

These Rivera Champs were amazing. I've never owned one but certainly borrowed a couple from friends back in the 80s for gigs. I'd throw a fuzz box and chorus or flange and delay in front. That was all, and I'd have amazing tone and it was much louder than its fifteen watts would lead people to believe. I've always leaned more in the Fender direction than Marshall although I've used both and also a number of Boogies, Laneys, Hiwatts and Peaveys.

I have the Princeton Reverb II from the same year. Lovely amp.

Really nice tone and playing! I have it's larger sibling, the Princeton Reverb II. I've owned it longer than any amp (since 1983) and will never let it go.

QUINE!!! How can you not love that endorsement? I've althat's thought the SC and the Deluxe Reverb II distortion channel have a quintessentially post-punk sort of timbre, especially if you get in close and let it feedback. Man, I've been playing Blue Mask-era Lou Reed songs through my 1983 '62RI Start and DRII since I bought them brand new back then and now it all makes sense why they're so perfect for the music I love. Oh, and I was always too lazy to swap out the Fender speaker for the EV and it's aged pretty nicely. Well, time to plug in my Yardbox fuzz and Deluxe Memory Man and keep trying to learn "Waves Of Fear!" Thanks, Adrian!

Fantastic video, thank you! I have mine since the early 90s and HATED it's sound over decades (stopped even playing *lol*) - but your video made me love it. Have a very nice pedalboard now in combination with the Super Champ and I am exploring it's full benefit while refreshing and expanding my guitar play... :-)

gonna quote myself from another vid comment... its a beautiful growly stormy amp. love love love it :)

Alan Murphy used this as his main amp. His solos on Go West's albums and Total Contrast's first album are all using the superchamp.

Excellent review! Your incredible tone inspired me to buy a 1982 Super Champ. I'm a fan of Rivera amps, so adding this Rivera era piece felt good. Separately, I also found a UK-made Celestion Vintage 10 speaker from the 1990s. I will try it out at some point if I don't like the stock Fender speaker in my amp. Some folks believe that these amps are underrated. Not at all -- at least not in 2023. I watched two of them on Reverb that got sold in just 24 hours! Thank you. Sub'd.

Amazing and Thank You!!!

I too have a 1983 Superchamp & I love it. The only downside I find is that the gain pull pot utilises the same circuitry as the reverb and therefore you almost completely lose the reverb so it sounds very dry. I’ve just bought an mxr reverb pedal to get round this issue. I also have a Wurlitzer 200 just like yours in the background.

I bought a Rivera Era Superchamp in the mid 80’s from a kid that had acquired it because he was told that he needed a tube amp to be taken seriously and the amp that I bought off from him did have the tubes but not the wattage or tone he needed. I still own mine and use it for recording and small venue gigs. The stock speaker just plain sucks and I replaced mine a long time ago with a Jensen P10 Alnico. Marriage made in Heaven tones. I also bought a pair of 6C10s before they became stupid expensive. I’ve heard that there is a schematic floating around the net that Paul Rivera drew up as a purposed design substitution for the 6C10. That fuzzy lead tone can be reigned in by using a 12AT7A in the V1 position. I generally just leave the amp in the clean mode and crank it to make the power tubes sweat and grind.

Great video, Adrian!

Beautiful sounds and playing, now I want one of those. Thanks for the demo! ...still hoping for a Nick Drake lesson at some point. :-)

That's J Mascis' secret weapon. You can hear it on Hand It Over and other records.

My dad bought me my first amp in 1986. He paid $150 (US) for it. It was a 1982(?) Rivera designed Champ II. Gorgeous tone. I didn't know what I had, so I sold it to help fund the purchase of a larger, louder amp as I had started playing with a drummer. Not long after that, I learned more about it. I had already regretted that I gave up an amp with such great tone, but to learn about Rivera and the rarity of the amp made me quite ill. To this day I miss it still.

Love all your video's Adrian, you have the same taste as me in both gear and bands you like.

Sounds great.

I bought a fender superchamp new in 1983 it was about 350 and I used it exclusively for 12 years and absolutely loved it.I sold it it because of the 6c10 availability problem but regretted it .I went through a lot of small amps at great expense until Fender brought out the 65 reissue Princeton which I now own. It has a wonderful sound pretty close to the superchamp. I loved the superchamp lead channel with the mid boost circuit engaded for John Mcgoech overdrive tones -If this amp where ever reissued I would immediately buy one.Very excellent demo and fond memories.

Great review Adrian! Keep'm coming. Don't forget the all american "country classic Wildwood Flower" Ventures style! Thanks!

I have never heard of people swapping the speaker on Super Champs. The EVl 10" speaker they came with are pretty desirable. Deffinatly valuable. If anybody wants to get rid of theirs, I would be happy to give you a celestion for yours. Nice amp, and video

I have two of these. Best kept secret in the Fender line up. Oh shit I just let the secret out. I describe it as a tweed deluxe, Princeton and a Deluxe Reverb all in one. Don't tell anyone about these amps or the price will go up again. Shhh.

Another fun, and informative video, thanks Adrian :) What I am very impressed with always, is how well you look after your equipment, and how clean your work space is.. I have always loved the sound of Fender amps, and had a Champ before I discovered that a trapped rat in my cottage, had made a nest in it and by the time I discovered where that strange chewy sound came from, it was too late and to my dismay, found that the grill cloth had been very extensively chewed away and the paper cone in the speaker was totally eaten up and rendered useless...a heartbreaking discovery.... if only I had had one of those wavy cats you have on the amp, it might have scared the rat off?? :) Anyway, your champ sounds wonderful, and even though I am not a fan of overdrive channels on tube amps, I have to admit I rather like the growl on yours...and I can appreciate the story of how you had to go by train to transport it back :) been there done that, but it only makes her more special and a firm "keeper"... She has obviously found a good master and good home! Looking forward to your Vox demo too if you ever decide to do one...

I have the champ11 version of this amp without the reverb 1983 i think. I love it and will never let it go. Great sounding amp with my Pedal board. They are hard to find and are going up in value.

beautiful amp, telecaster, tone, and haircut! have a great weekend, adz

Very nice, keep it playing! (1982SC owner).

I bought this amp new in 1983 for $300 and still have it. A friend of mine refinished it as a blond amp with black grill. I also replaced the speaker and the tubes in 1988. Haven’t done anything else to it since.

5 years ago I bought a Champ II from 1982/83. First Fender amp by Rivera, replaced after only one year by the Super Champ. I dont know if its basically the same amp only without reverb and lead channel. But it sounds very nice too and since I use pedals I dont miss a thing.

Alan Murphy used Super Champs with Kate Bush, Go West and Level 42. He had the reverb control switched to mid boost. I’ve got the EV version from when I worked in Denmark Street and will never sell it. Thanks for sharing )

I just made one today from old vintage parts and a schematic from online it sounds great and good breakup

David Gilmour recorded the huge sounding solo on Sorrow from A Momentary Lapse of Reason album with the Super Champ a he said in an interview that he was blown away by the amp.

Brilliant! I've been curious about exactly what it is you have there.I have a '66 Champ and absolutely love it. Tough to beat the old low watt Fender stuff.

Love it

Great review dude. Love your gentle and laidback style, helps me to relax. Having said that, I’m more of a “Marshall” lover than fender, but you did your best to convince us that a fender amp is any good. Love your tutorial videos btw.

thats a really nice amp

Hey Adrian, great videos. I couldn't quite make out the name of your fuzz pedal you mentioned. The one that gives it that classic 60's fuzz. Great sound. Thanks for all those wonderfull lessons. You have a way to describe it perfectly.

Nice guy....def not a criminal....and nice Jazzmaster also

Thanks for the video Adrian,I was really interested in knowing more about the amp.Could you do a Brian Setzer video?

I have a Vox AC15, an old Peavey 45 watt transistor amp and a Marshall JCM 800 50 watt head through a 4X12 cab. 95% of the time I play trough a Blackstar HT1-R. 1 mighty watt of thunderous power. I’d love a little Princeton or Super Champ at some stage. The Fender sound is the one I need to cover the bases I can’t at the moment. Yours sounds beautiful.

The new super champ x2 is all tube in ch.1 and digital pre amp / tube power amp in ch.2. One 12ax7 and two 6v6 tubes. The modeling tones are only on the second channel, the first channel is the clean channel and that is all tube but sounds amazing if you use pedals for overdrive.

I watched this, went to my local guitar shop which has used consignment amps, and there was one (a 1983 as well). I bought it and took it home. Wow. I really love it. Thank you!!

nice playing in the beginning

Very nice.

Adrian, how did you approach learning how to take solo leads like you do in this demo? I feel like I'm a pretty decent intermediate guitar player, but my ability to solo is severely lacking. Was it memorizing scales? What would you recommend as good practice for someone looking to improve in this area?

Cool story on how you acquired the amp. I wonder does the former owner ever watch your videos and kick himself for selling it. It always sounds great, as does your playing Adrian. I really enjoy your videos.

Great amplifier.

Robert Quine!

When amps were AMPS I've got a silver face champ with Jensen alnico 8 and you can't believe the tones and then just add pedels !!!!!

I play a lot of midwest amp and this amp is TONE just plugging in.

Beautiful clean tones. Would be ideal for teaching some Felt songs, something like The World Is As Soft As Lace would be great. Failed to transcribe that myself.

Have 2 of the Fender Super Champ XD amps. 15 watts of nice clean tube channel and a second channel with 16 modeling amp settings and lots of built in effects. Can currently be purchased used for plus or minus the $200 U.S. mark. Try one you might like it.

Some nice tones coming out of that little guy, Any chance of doing something by The Damned? either real early Brian James era or 80's Strawberries or Black Album

Hi Adrian, thanks for the video. I've checked out the schematic for your amp and, as you say, it is not two channel but rather the Lead switch switches in signal from the reverb driver stage, and that's where the higher gain sound comes from. I would build one of these, but the reliance on the 6C10 puts me off; I might try one with 2 x 12AX7s replacing the triple triode and see how it sounds.

Great to see this on the day I subbed to your channel! I'm not much of a guitarist (hence looking at lessons) but I've got an '83 Princeton Reverb 2 from the same series of Rivera-designed amps as yours. Lovely cleans and takes pedals well. It also has the dubious pull-lead feature :)

I bought my Super Champ in 1985 after seeing Alan Murphy use one with Go West. Great little amp and fortunately so far for me, still going strong. Do you use the mid pull boost much?

Don’t suppose there’s a chance you could do a ned’s Atomic dustbin tutorial , happy or grey cell green?:)

I always enjoy your videos, and I just paid $260 USD for 2 6C10's for the SuperChamp I'm picking up tomorrow. Ouch. But Better to have than have not and wish you could find one to pay double for! 🤦🏻‍♂️

What's the song you're playing at the start? Love it

Great demo Adrian, thanks for sharing. Real dedication humping that amp/case around town when you bought it :-0

Ah, I always mistakenly thought your amp was the "X2" version that I almost bought once, which as you said has a digital modeling stage (which I didn't enjoy the sound of, although the amp's clean sound was nice--also too many controls on an amp overwhelms me). It looks exactly the same but has the "X2" label on front. I enjoyed the demo, and now I understand why you're using it! And although the greatest thing is always to see another of your incomparable song lessons, it turns out to be nice to learn about the equipment in between the songs.

Adrian, what amp do you use for your live work and what settings do you use please (vol, Treble, mid, bass, reverb etc)

Could you do a lesson for It's On by Flowered Up?

Very nice Adrian. I really like what you're playing at the beginning of the video, however it doesn't show your fret hand. I know you're arpeggiating between 3, or 4 chords and I'm wondering if you'd be able to type the names of the chords you're playing. Basically, I can see where you're playing on the neck, but I'd sure like to know the names of the chords. Regardless if you have time to do this, I want to say that I really enjoy your channel. I'm glad I subscribed. Thanks for what you do Adrian.

no celestions ever came in the SC !!

I have the Super Champ 2. It's like your Super Champ but with no shoes on squatting in a ditch munching ground grubs.

Can you do a video on how you record videos next?

Almost Neil Young in the lead channel.

your first example you did what kind of fuzz pedal did you kick on there??

Hi Adrian. Can you recommend a small, ‘neighbour friendly’ amp for just home use (new).

You didn't say anything about the dual pedal, and what it does, or how the reverb cuts out when you pull the knob for lead (you did in the comments section)

Adrian(sp?), what are your thoughts on the Fender Champion 20?

Can you talk about that red vox

These were $200 brand new. I purchased mine for that price back in 1983, and I still have it. The 6C10 valve that the Super Champ uses is very hard to find and that will cost you a good penny.

At 13:00, that riff should've been LAST DANCE WITH MARY JANE by Tom Petty.. but you diffed it mate.

Posies?! Surely a lesson to follow? Definite Door? Flood of Sunshine or Burn & Shine?

The down fall of this is use of the rare 6C10 valve. You cannot use a substitute valve as the sweet sound will be comprised.

Sounds fine. I’ll stick with my Princeton.

OMG..16:17! 😍

Similar tones from my little Laney LC15r

Hey Adrian, do you recommend an amp similar to that amp that is in production today?

Yeh the lead channel sounds like a mild fuzz.

how much amp weighs? in kg? do you know?

theres two on Ebay/reverb for 1500 and 1900$

I also like calling tubes "valves".

I have the original one myself.

Hi Adrian. Many thanks for this. I prefer the clean sounds on your amp, but, to tell the truth, much prefer Vox and Marshall to Fender.